Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to microwave antenna probes for applying energy, e.g., microwave energy, to tissue to treat tissue, e.g., ablate tissue.
Background of Related Art
Treatment of certain diseases requires destruction of malignant tissue growths, e.g., tumors. It is known that tumor cells denature at elevated temperatures that are slightly lower than temperatures injurious to surrounding healthy cells. Known treatment methods, such as hyperthermia therapy, are utilized to heat tumor cells above the temperature necessary to destroy the tumor cells, while maintaining adjacent healthy cells at lower temperatures to avoid irreversible damage to the surrounding healthy cells. Such methods typically involve applying electromagnetic radiation to heat tissue, e.g., to ablate and/or coagulate tissue. In particular, microwave energy is used to ablate and/or coagulate tissue to denature or kill cancerous cells. There are several types of microwave antenna probes, e.g., monopole probes and dipole probes, that are currently used to radiate microwave energy generally perpendicularly from the axis of the probe to treat adjacent tissue.